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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Absolutely loved this book. A rich expansive universe that adds color and dimension to the original 1984 text. Orwell’s version was damning but also haunting — most wonder how and why this world could even come to be let alone operate. Newman architects a realistic universe addressing those most haunting questions with storytelling…Who is Julia, the person? What are her motives, actually? And, the one that haunted me the most during grade school, how to cope with a rat cage over your head?
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Perhaps obviously, it's not for the faint of heart (see trigger warnings). However, this novel does keep you guessing a bit and did not end how I thought it would, which was interesting because as a reader you are having a similar experience as the main character. Its subtle political commentary about power and freedom: who has it, in what ways, and how it's kept, was very powerful and will keep me thinking about this book for a long time. I also appreciated (as well as being horrified at times) the author giving the perspective of this same Orwell world but from the POV and struggles of a woman navigating that, but beyond that part, I think the commentary on political systems goes in an interesting direction a bit different from the original Orwell. Well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Xenophobia, Abortion
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Genocide, Sexual content, Blood, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Classism
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, War
The book is about a brutal regime so there are some explicit and graphic descriptions of things a brutal regime does. It's not endlessly discussed but various situations occur at times throughout the book.
I enjoyed this quite a bit. At first I felt it was kind of slow but around 30% in I just couldn’t put it down. The world Julia lives in is very interesting and I liked how this was intertwined with 1984 in a way that made sense without taking away from Julia being the protagonist. She had more depth as a character which was nice to see. But alas the ending was like 1984 and I felt a little disappointed.
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes